“The Meyer Center at TCH provides medically directed diagnostic services for infants, children and adolescents spanning the full spectrum of developmental-behavioral pediatrics – from intellectual disabilities and autism spectrum disorders to learning disabilities and attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) – including services for those at risk due to prematurity or other neonatal complications, birth defects, or genetic syndromes.”
Let me say to all parents that you will be fully charged ($$$) for the doctor’s evaluation, and once you obtain an assessment through TCH, there are not a world of services suddenly available to you. If you already have an autism assessment, getting reassessed through the Meyer Center is probably a waste of time and money. Also, if this is your child’s first assessment, you will want to be assessed right away, rather than waiting two years (see below), so your child can benefit from Early Intervention.
The Meyer Center had us wait 9 months just to make an appointment, and then called me right when school had let out to tell me that my son’s name had come up on the waiting list to be eligible for an appointment, but I needed to have his teachers fill out evaluation forms–also before I could schedule the appointment (which meant waiting until September to make it). After submitting the forms, they lost them, and this resulted in more delay.
After I finally was able to make the appointment, the wait was incredibly long after that to see a doctor. It took me about two years to finally see one of their developmental pediatricians. In the meantime, I had spoken to their administrative assistant several times, saying I already had an autism assessment for my child, but are there services or innovative treatments he can access through Texas Children’s if he is assessed by a doctor down there? She said yes, that’s the point of having one of their doctors do the evaluation. It turned out not to be the case.
Now, I thought the evaluation was quite excellent and thorough, probably the best one I’d seen. I saw Lane Strathearn, MD, PhD. At the end of it, though, we were told our son had classic autism, what we already knew.
Funny thing, I actually was not aware that we were going to be charged for the diagnostic test. Given the two year + wait to see a doctor, I suppose I thought it was a public service provided free of charge by Texas Children’s Hospital.
This is very old and outdated. The process is shorter now. Insurance pays for most visits. The reason it’s so long of a wait is because TCH is one of the few places you can go to see a Developmental Pediatrician that actually accepts Medicaid insurance plans, making this service accessible to thousands of children whose parents could never afford to pay out of pocket.